Go out by yourself, face the wind, hold up your head and thank the Universe for this world we live in.

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.

🐾 Hedgehogs, Chooks, Nature, gardening and other rambles. In summer I always enjoy an early-evening walk on our smallholding. No need to get in my car to find nature, I have 8.5ha right here to explore, always hoping to see the Barn Owl or some Guinea fowl, but always enjoying the Bluegum trees and beautiful grasses and wild flowers along the way.

Hi,
I'm Maree Clarkson and after moving from Gauteng in December 2017, where I lived for 47 years, I now live on one of the most beautiful coasts in the world, the North Coast in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. I’m passionate about sketching and painting, animals, birds, nature, Moleskine note books, the beach, crystals, succulents, useless information, technology, blogging, networking, my MAC, my Land Rover, positivity, gardening and discovering anything new in life!
Living in Africa is something very special and I am constantly delighted, amused and amazed by the things I see, do and experience. Join me in some of these experiences.
Watercolours are my preferred medium. For me, the unpredictability and uncontrollable nature of watercolour makes it the most exciting and expressive medium of all. Having a certain picture in your mind and then seeing something slightly different, yet wonderful, come to life, is a thrilling experience! With watercolours, no two artists can produce the same result, the paint will just not allow you!

Monday, 19 November 2012

Unlike in human beings, where many families share a lifetime of existence together, bonds between parents and offspring only last a for few months for many animals.

Verreaux's eagles (black eagles) are no exception. The juvenile that hatched a few months ago at the Walter Sisulu botanical Gardens in Gauteng, South Africa, jealously guarded and fed by its parents, will soon be chased away forever to start a life of its own. The eaglet, dubbed Jabulani, enjoyed all the protection it needed to make it in life. It even had the dubious privilege of killing and eating its own sibling with the ‘approval' of its parents. After several months of learning how to fly and hunt, along with other survival skills, Jabulani's future now depends on her wings.

She took her maiden flight on 13 September 2012 and has been seen taking plunges on some of the canopies. Although she has not yet mastered the art of hunting, all the other features she need have now fell in place - a sharp beak, strong feet with claws as sharp as daggers and wings that will give her total control of the skyline. Her parents will soon chase her out of their Garden territory and she will have to fly away to establish her own territory until she meets a suitable mate who, like her parents, is likely to become a lifetime partner.

For now, her main concerns will be to learn and perfect hunting skills, and gain weight that will be needed for her battles ahead. Verreaux's eagles are capable of eating any small to medium-sized animals and typical prey includes guinea fowl, francolins and dassies (rock hyrax).

Sunday, 11 November 2012

On a hot, windy Monday morning in mid-October 2012, the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden staff on a plant survey of the ridge nature reserve areas, took a photograph of a wary francolin which, with another, was making its way along through the low bushes. The pair was identified as Orange River Francolins and had not been previously recorded for this Garden. This brings the francolin and spurfowl species number up to four; Coqui and Red-winged Francolin and Swainson’s Spurfowl having been recorded before.

Orange River Francolin, like most gamebirds, have a varied diet, feeding on bulbs, seeds and insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and termites. The nest is a shallow scrape in the earth made by the female and she broods the chicks when they hatch. Both adults help to care for the chicks.

Info from Walter Sisulu Newsletter

View from my daughter's house

Well, I'm off to the coast tomorrow for a week to Ballito on our North Coast (South Africa), for a week to visit my daughter and grand-children, but I hope to be doing a post or two as I am taking my Samsung Galaxy tablet with me. I've never used it to post anything on Blogger, so will have to see how it goes. Otherwise I'll have lots of pics and news when I get back! Have a great week ahead and remember, "The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Friday, 9 November 2012

How many of us turn to Nature when it comes to healthy eating and living? I know ALL foods like fruit and vegetables come from nature, but often we buy them after they have gone through strict cleansing and preparation, ready for purchase by us, the public, often with extra additives like bleach to get the potatoes nice and white.

Having a garden sporting a few of your favourite herbs and vegetables is a great way to ensure that you have some healthy, un-treated food at hand, straight from nature to your plate. One of my favourite plants in the garden is Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), which is used as a decorative plant in gardens and has many culinary
and medical uses. The plant is said to improve the memory. The leaves
are used to flavour various foods, such as stuffings and roast meats.

Rosemary is a tonic, astringent, restorative herb that relaxes spasm
and increases the rate of perspiration, while stimulating the liver and
gall bladder. It improves digestion and circulation and controls
pathogenic organisms and has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, spasmolytic,
antioxidant, smooth muscle modulating, analgesic, venotonic, as well as
anti-inflammatory properties.

I have used Rosemary in many ways - for cooking, as a pest repellent in my chicken coop and even as a conditioning rinse after washing my hair. Here is what I do to make the conditioner:

Take 1 cup of coarsely chopped, fresh Rosemary and 1 quart of distilled
water. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let
infuse (soak) for 1 hour. Strain, then add 1 quart of white vinegar to
the liquid. Store in plastic containers and keep in a cool, dark place.
(You may be worried about adding the vinegar, but it acts as wonderful softener for your hair and is also a
preservative. You can make your rinses without it, but then they must be
stored in the refrigerator and used within two days.)

Blend softened cream cheese and sour cream or yogurt in a small bowl;
add lemon juice and blend well. Then add the rosemary and garlic and blend well. I use old cream cheese holders to store mine in the fridge. (They can also make great little gifts for a friend - dress up the container with some string or ribbon and a little card or other accessory that you find beautiful.)

This makes a nice spread for bagels, focaccia bread or other kinds of
flat bread–spread on warm bread, top with some tomato slices, add some
sliced olives, and sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese – yum! You can
use it as a dip for fresh veggies, too–add another teaspoon of lemon
juice to thin it out a little more if using as a dip. I also like to have some Sweet Chilli sauce at hand for added flavour.

I often make myself a cup of Rosemary tea. Containing powerful antioxidants and many vitamins, rosemary tea is easily made by adding 1 tsp. of the dried or fresh leaves to 1 cup of boiled water. Steep for 10 minutes, strain and sip. As it has a strong rather bitter taste, you can add honey if you need a sweeter concoction.

It seems that the ancient art of foraging is in decline but in these
tricky economic times, it makes perfect sense to collect free food from nature. There is much you can do to ensure your own constant supply of 'food from nature', like planting your own vegetable and herb garden, planting a few fruit trees and keeping a few chickens for a constant supply of fresh free-range eggs. Living off nature is one of the greatest pleasures of life!

Saturday, 3 November 2012

With the whole world watching the progression and now, aftermath, of
Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast of America, my thoughts of sorrow and
compassion for the people involved turned anxiously to the animals that were caught up in this tragedy. Reading other animal lovers' plight and preparations for the safety of their pets and farm animals,
had me feeling thankful that we have hardly ever experienced something
similar here in South Africa. We don't get hurricanes and have only had a
few small (compared to what the rest of the world suffers) tornadoes.
Our last big, scary storm that hit our North Coast was in May 2007, when
properties on the beach were severely damaged, but luckily with no loss
of life.

I just cannot imagine what it must entail to suffer the loss of animals
and pets during such a disaster and what preparation it must take to
safe-guard, not just your own family and property, but the animals as
well.

It is said that chickens, like birds, can predict the weather. Just last
week I saw my hens gathering close together on an overcast, windy day,
looking rather disturbed and then being led into the coop by Artemis,
the rooster. Shortly after we had a HUGE hailstorm, with hail the size
of golf balls, destroying half my garden and even damaging windows and
cars. But the chooks were safely ensconced in the coop, obviously
knowing what was coming.

Many birders have noticed birds will spend a longer time than normal
bathing when a storm is coming. Afterward, they spend a significant time
preening. Birds such as the quail, guinea fowl and mousebirds would
take long dust baths, as if preparing their feathers for some sort of
onslaught.

Many birds were affected by Hurricane Sandy, much like humans,
especially those close to the devastated areas. Water birds, and
seabirds especially, often show up out of their ocean environment and
such was the case with this past week’s storm.
A Leach’s Storm Petrel, a bird of the open ocean, was found in downtown
Newburyport, where someone retrieved it from Interlocks Salon and Day
Spa and a Dovekie, a member of the alcid family of birds, which includes
puffins, was found trapped in a cellar!

But there’s little question that avian mortality increases during a hurricane,
whether due to starvation, exhaustion, habitat destruction, or exposure
to pounding rains. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo killed half of the wild
parrots in Puerto Rico; a year earlier, Hurricane Gilbert decimated the
population of Mexico’s Cozumel thrasher.

But it's important to remember that the long-term effects of hurricanes on birds aren't necessarily negative. Every disturbance event is bad for
some species but good for others. For instance, hurricanes create gaps
in forests, creating habitat for species that require a brushy
understory. Birds blown off course occasionally establish entirely new
populations; such events may be responsible for much, if not most,
colonization of remote islands by birds. Furthermore, hurricanes have
been around for a long time and are part of the system in which birds
evolved. It is only when they have impacts on species already pushed to
the brink by humans, or if hurricane activity is increased by global
climate change, that there is cause for concern.

Nature Journal

There are chickens in my Nasturtiums!

Pic of the week

Random thoughts

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.

::

Look at the bird, up in the treetop.Building its nest, with no time to stop.Hatching its eggs so smooth and so round,Then feeding its babies, worms from the ground.Look at the bird with beak for a mouth.When it gets cold, the bird will fly south.When it gets warm, the bird will return.Let's watch how the birds live, and see what we learn.

:: One of the things about blogging that I am most thankful for is that it has taught me to stop and take in the beauty of the smallest things ::

This Earth belongs to Mother Nature. The rest of us just live here.

The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.

Nature poems

NATURE rarer uses yellow Than another hue; Saves she all of that for sunsets, Prodigal of blue, Spending scarlet like a woman, Yellow she affords Only scantly and selectly, Like a lover’s words.

Wildlife tips

If you have the space, also consider a wildlife pond, with shallow edges so that mammals and birds can drink or bathe safely. A wildlife pond offers invaluable refuge for frogs and other water mammals and insects

Weekly Green tip

By making simple changes in our everyday lives, we can improve the planet we all share. Over the festive season, USE NATURAL DECORATIONS: Forgo craft store supplies for beautiful, biodegradable decorations you can find in nature. Pinecones, gourds, leaves, and acorns are just some of the materials that can add seasonal ambience to your dining room.

Probably most of us have been in a garden on a particular day and time and felt a rush of well-being - of joy, being recharged, uplifted, a sense of healing, being in tune with the infinite. Gardens can clear away the fog of the noisy, fast, techno world, and the mindless focus on the clutter of trivia. Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. In a garden one is not growing rare plants and trees… one is making memories… Gardening is one thing, maybe even the only thing, that brings people from all over this world, together. Gardening teaches us compassion - just walk past the ‘nearly’ dead tree every day, pat it on the bark and whisper, “just hold on for one more year”. It really does still serve a purpose - little raptors like the Fiscal Shrike loves the vantage point the dead branches give her and many birds will bask in the early morning warmth of the sun on a cold winter's morning in the very top branches.

Consider what you bring to the partnership and what the rest of nature brings. Gardening as a partner with the rest of nature means we have to let go of control to allow the garden to do its magic. When we allow ourselves to see the garden more in its own terms, to reach beyond ourselves to the garden, then we become more one with it, and no longer standing outside and above.

A soul garden is one where the forces of nature are more powerfully evident than our own power. This is honoured and expressed through plants that regenerate, and are thereby not as dependent on humans for their existence. These are often labelled as weeds. There is a dance between the power of the weed and us. Allowing weeds to grow in your garden is not just a new fashion, which calls for a wild patch alongside tame ones. Wildness is necessary within a garden, it's a connection between nature and ourselves.

The plight of our honey bees

For the last several years scientists have fretted over the future of bees, and although research has shed much light on the crisis, those in the bee business—from hive keepers to commercial farmers—say the insects remain in deep trouble as their colonies continue to struggle. Let's all do our bit - stop using pesticides, provide them with nectar flowers and water. Although some people regard bees as pests, Albert Einstein famously said: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."